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Here’s how many Pinellas, Hillsborough residents have filed for unemployment
State officials have released new details on Florida’s soaring jobless numbers, including how many people have filed for unemployment assistance in each of the state’s 67 counties.
In Pinellas County, there were 24,160 initial unemployment claims filed in the five weeks ended April 4. That represents 4.9 percent of the county’s total workforce of 494,185.
In Hillsborough county, there were 29,903 initial unemployment claims in the same time period, or 4 percent of the 750,269 total workforce.
The statewide stay at home order and other restrictions placed on businesses to control the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus have led to layoffs and furloughs statewide, especially in the restaurant and hotel industry.
There were 463,309 initial unemployment claims filed statewide in the five week period that included all of March and the first week of April, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, and workers in the accommodation and food service industry accounted for nearly one in every four claims. Workers in the administration, support and waste management industry group filed 10.6 percent of the claims statewide, followed by workers in retail trade (8.9 percent) and healthcare and social assistance (8.6 percent)
Here are the initial claims by industry for the five weeks ended April 4 for Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
The DEO said it will update the county data weekly. It is updating statewide totals on a daily basis.
Through April 22, there were 682,648 verified claims for unemployment assistance throughout the state. The state has processed 30.6 percent of those claims and paid out $150.5 million.